Chemistry and Timing
by Atilla.The.Fun
Summary: Chemistry? Chemistry is the easy part, anyone can have chemistry. Timing? That's what gets you into trouble, because timing… timing is everything.
1. Chapter 1

Here we go again ya'll. I've written a couple of stories on this Dipper and Pacifica's relationship but I've decided to focus more on the chase if you catch my drift. This is set in their teenage years.

And just to clarify:

"Someone is talking"

 _Someone is thinking_

 **Emphasis!**

* * *

Attraction? There was plenty of that to go around between Dipper and Pacifica. The truth, however, is that you can't build your relationship based on good looks. Dipper knew this, and he repeated it to himself over and over, but for some strange reason when it came to Pacifica, he didn't want to look away. Her smile was the best kind of infection you could get, and the way she walked, her hips swayed from side to side, almost as if she knew he was looking. Then there was the way she said his name. Speaking of which.

"Dipper… Dip? Are you listening?" Dipper Pines tore himself out of his thoughts, finding himself back at the Mystery Shack, more specifically at the counter of the gift shop.

"Uh huh. Yeah, of course." He did his best to compose himself. Hopefully Pacifica hadn't noticed his strange behavior. "You want to see Mabel right?" He asked, but the pretty blond didn't respond right away, instead she stood there with a soft smile.

"No…" She looked to the floor for a moment, then turned her gaze back to Dipper. "I'm here for you Dipper." She began to move closer, her hand reached across the counter and grazed against his knuckles. She lowered her voice huskily… seductively, "I want you Dipper."

The world stood still. Frozen over with shock Dipper did his best to breath, but as hard as he tried, he failed even harder. Seconds passed and Pacifica's face broke out into a wide grin and the atmosphere changed instantly.

"Just kidding you dork! Of course I'm here to see Mabel, it's Friday." She raised an arm making a gesture to the sleeping bag that was nestled beneath.

"Oh…" He cleared his throat, "Of course. Yeah I guess I forgot about your sleepover." Pacifica couldn't help but notice how stiff the air had become.

"You're not mad at me are you? Serves you right for playing space cadet while you're working. I should file a complaint with your boss you know." She raised a finger to scold him jokingly, Dipper smiled, rubbing the back of his head awkwardly.

"I guess there's no hiding from you, is there?" His smile was warmly returned by Pacifica.

"Not even for a second." She continued to tease him, "The Northwest's are renowned for their skills in deduction, amongst our natural charm and intellectual prowess."

"And somehow you forgot to mention good looks." He shot back sarcastically.

"Oh Dipper," She responded feeling flirtatious, "No one forgets about that."

Just like that, Dipper felt that same attraction he was trying to avoid deepen. At least now he knew it was based on much more that physical appearances. He was attracted to her personality, her humor, the way she carried herself… Dipper was attracted to everything about Pacifica Northwest.

 _Damn…_

"Geez cut the flirting you too." Grunkle Stan walked into the room clearly disgusted, "We can't sell teenage hormones, at least not legally." Stan made his way over to the cash register to do his ritual sales count.

The moment was ruined, and embarrassed Pacifica silently saw her way to Mabel's room thankful that the Alpha twin wasn't there to enjoy their misery. When she left Stan turned his attention over to his great nephew.

"So kid, when are you gonna make your move?" Dipper choked, Stan ignoring him continued, "Take it from me kid, the girl's into you. But there just one thing you gotta look out for-"

"Her shotgun wielding father?" He joked, poking fun at the serious nature of the conversation.

"Well, two things. The other is timing. You can't just rush into it, but but if you wait too long you'll let her get away... Listen to your great uncle Stan on this one. Timing is everything."

Dipper had to admit, Stan was right: painfully right.

The question remained, however, would Dipper ever make a move? To be honest he wasn't even sure he wanted to try. He started to think about how things were great with Pacifica. Although their friendship seemed to be heavy on the Mabel aspect, it was still one of the strongest that he had. He enjoyed her company, her laugh, her smile-

 _Alright that's enough of that!_

He enjoyed having Pacifica as a friend… was he willing to risk that?

* * *

Thanks for reading. As always have fun!

Atilla the Fun


	2. Chapter 2

Dipper tossed and turned in his bed. He was hot, humid and increasingly sticky. More troublesome than his sweaty situation, he couldn't break his thoughts free from the conversation he had earlier with his grunkle Stan.

 _Take it from me kid, the girl's into you…_ He could hear Stan's voice clear as day.

He wrapped his pillow around his head, but it was another feeble attempt to keep his mind quiet.

 _If you wait too long you'll let her get away…_ Stan's voice began to scold him.

"Mmmm…" He tossed again laying his face flat against his mattress. This was starting to get out of hand.

 _When are you gonna make your move…_

That was enough, he couldn't take it anymore. He kicked the covers off, and sat hunched over at the side of his bed. "I really gotta get some air." He looked around the room for something decent to wear. On hot nights like this he was grateful he didn't have to bunk with Mabel at the mystery shack anymore it made sleeping in your underwear a lot less awkward. The darkness of the room got the better of him as he settled for a simple pair of gym shorts thinking modesty wasn't much of a concern. After all who could be up at this hour?

On his way to the kitchen he noticed a light from the fridge, _probably grunkle Stan,_ he thought to himself.

He was wrong. Worse than wrong. In fact, who better to find in his kitchen in the middle of the night, than the heiress of the Northwest fortune?

Should he run?

Yup, he should definitely make a run for it.

Any second now.

Just turn around and run…

But he couldn't. He stayed the course, somehow gravitated towards the same person who had been haunting him all night. Deciding that running away was no longer an option, he chose to embrace the awkward situation that was about to unfold.

 _ **Timing is everything…**_

He swallowed hard. "Hey Pacifica," he called out. Pacifica nearly jumped out of her skin, bumping her head lightly against the door frame of the refrigerator. "Are you okay?"

"Never better…" She called out from the fridge, but Dipper could hear a bit of frustration in her voice. "Is tomato juice the only thing you guys have to drink around here?"

"Well, if I had know that you would be raiding the fridge I would've stocked up on champagne and caviar." He let Pacifica shuffle in the fridge for a bit longer until he chose to intervene. "Here, I have some Pitt Cola stashed in back." He opened the door wide enough for him to squeeze through. Pacifica tensed up almost immediately.

This was the first time she had seen Dipper without a shirt, and one of the very few times she had ever seen a boy shirtless. Her blush was inevitable.

"Watch out for the pitt," he reminded her, handing over the can. In doing so his fingers brushed against hers. Her blush went from inevitable to undeniable.

 _The girl's into you…_ He turned away from her, but it didn't help. _The girl's into you…_

He spoke up, "So, what's eating you?"

She paused for a moment, wondering if it would be a good idea to confide in him.

"I have a date tomorrow," She began. Dipper put on a mask, there was no way he could let her know what he was feeling. "So I'm nervous. He's pretty popular with other girls you know, and well... You can tell when a girl has kissed someone before right?"

Despite how badly the conversation turned for Dipper, he couldn't deny how cute she looked now. It made it harder for him, but the mask he wore was cool and confident.

"Uh, yea I guess. I mean if she's nervous or scared you can tell."

"Oh." Her voice grew nearly silent.

"You've never kissed anyone?" Dipper pressed on.

"Of course I have!" She defended quickly. "It's just… I'm not throwing my lips on every guy I see." Her face was red, her cheeks were puffed in a childish pout.

"Hey you don't have to convince me. Actually to be honest, if you were an experienced professional it be a bit of a turnoff… for me at least." He began to unconsciously scratch at the back of his head.

After a pregnant pause, Pacifica continued. "Have you kissed a lot of girls?"

"Tons." He responded quickly. She was shocked at first, but then she realized that he wasn't taking the question seriously.

"Oh I'm so sure." She scoffed, rolling her eyes.

"I'm dead serious, as soon as I see a girl, I'm like here have my lips."

"And I'm sure you're grandmother appreciates it." She quipped.

Strange, it was so easy for them to fall back into this trap. They could joke for hours together in good nature.

Dipper's smile grew wide. He had already come to terms with how much he enjoyed her company and now he was reassured. He decided within himself, that timing wouldn't be an issue because he wouldn't try anything. He was content with being the guy she confided in, the guy she could rely on no matter how late at night… he was sure that would be enough for him. However, that's not to say he was content with letting some random guy being her first kiss. No, Pacifica was special, her first kiss should be with a guy she could trust: a guy like him.

A wicked idea crawled across his mind.

He took a deep breath, and placed his hands on her shoulders. Before Pacifica realized what was happening Dipper brushed his lips against hers softly. The kiss was chaste, and over just as quickly as it had started. Pacifica's body was rigid, surprise had rooted her to the spot. Dipper pulled away, as the seconds passed she became more and more aware of the frenzy within her chest.

"There, now you won't have to be so nervous." He let go of her shoulders and walked away. To any outsider her may have looked confident, smug even, as he left Pacifica there. Inside however, he fought the urge to run back and kiss her again.

Pacifica reached a nervous hand to her lips. _What the hell just happened?_

* * *

 _Thanks again for tuning in!_

 _Atilla the Fun_


	3. Chapter 3

And we're back in time. The kids are twelve this time. Takes place after the Northwest's haunting.

* * *

It was nearing 6 in the afternoon at the Mystery Shack. There were no customers in the store, but there was a set of twins absolutely bored out of their young minds as they counted down to their favorite time of day.

"…and 55…56…" Mabel had begun the final countdown "57…58…59… and CLOSED!" She shouted happily, turning to her brother who sat at the counter turning the pages of a magazine. "So what are you up to tonight? Duck-tective marathon?"

Her brother was less amused. "... I don't know Mabel, last week's episode was kind of a bore."

"What? You know you love his _fowl_ tactics…" She paused to let her pun sink in. "You know like fowl as in the bird."

"Oh, I got it Mabel," Dipper sat up, and walked over to the front door to turn the open sign over.

 **KNOCK-KNOCK**

Dipper almost jumped back in surprise, it was Pacifica at the door. How long had it been since he had seen her? It felt like weeks had passed since the haunting at the Northwest Manor.

He opened the door quickly.

"Pacifica, what are you doing here?" he asked motioning for her to step inside, she took the invitation.

"Oooh… I think I'll just get started on that Duck-tective marathon. I'm sure you got this bro-bro." Mabel stepped out of the room. She wasn't sure what was going on between the two, but if anything **was** going to happen it would be better if she wasn't there.

Both Dipper and Pacifica brushed off Mabel's sudden disappearance.

"Oh, you know... Mother has gotten quite paranoid since our past paranormal nuisance, so she sent me here to see if there was some sort of trinket to keep them away…" Pacifica's tone was cold. It took Dipper a second to acquaint himself with this indifferent side of Pacifica. What happened to the girl he had spent the night fleeing for his life with?

He cleared his throat, and hoped she wouldn't find the disappointment in his voice. "Uh… Yeah, I think we have some of those. I'm sure they're fakes, though."

"Doesn't matter. Mother just needs a little piece of mind." She waved him away. It was as if nothing had changed, and the bond formed between them was suddenly gone… Pacifica had gone back to her old ways.

"Alright just a second. They're over here." He led her to a series of shelves on the wall. "Take your pick."

It didn't take long. Pacifica seemed to grab whatever was closest to her.

"Thank you for your help, Dipper." She reached into her purse to give him one of her father's credit cards, but Dipper made no motion to take it.

"So… that bad, huh?" Dipper questioned as he fiddled with his hat.

"What do you mean?" She broke her character, and sounded genuinely enthused.

"Your parents. I'm sure they grounded you, I thought it would be bad but… I didn't think it would completely reset you as a person." Pacifica couldn't tell if he was joking or not. She decided to brush him off.

"Look, Dipper. Let's not do this okay? We're not friends, we never were and we're not about to start now."

Her response didn't faze him one bit. "So, you're going back on what you said that night. You don't mind being the next link on the world's worst chain?"

"You don't know what you're talking about." She tried to look away, but there was something in his eyes she couldn't break from.

"Is that really how you feel? You're okay with being that kind of person?" He stepped closer. Pacifica could feel her heart beat speed up.

She stayed silent for a second; Dipper seemed to be set for another round of questions. He wasn't going to stop until he knew what was going on. _She didn't want to be like her parents, right?_

But before the silence could get any thicker, she opened her mouth. "I can't do this right now..." Her voice was barely above a whisper. "I don't want to do this Dipper."

"Do what? Make a change? I know you're better than that. Pacifica you're a good person-" Dipper was getting heated, talking passionately as he got carried away with himself.

"I said I don't want to do this Dipper, just stop." She managed to break the hold his gaze had on her. She crossed her arms around her and looked down. She really didn't want to deal with this, whatever it was.

"Why?" He pressed on. "Why not?"

Pacifica could feel a flutter begin in her stomach. She new this feeling, she wanted to ignore it, but she was sure now it wouldn't go away. He wouldn't go away.

So she decided to confess.

"I…" Deep breath, "I like you Dipper." Her heart felt like it was going to explode. She could almost feel Dipper's reaction.

The young boy didn't know what to say, or what to do. Or even how to breathe for a moment. Silence encompassed him completely. Where had his voice gone?

"That's why I can't do this." Pacifica continued, "I can't okay? I just… you're going to be gone in a couple of weeks. I mean _gone._ It'll be like you were never here, but the way I'm feeling right now, Dipper, that's not going to leave." She took another deep breath; she had to catch herself from falling. Why couldn't this boy leave things alone? Why couldn't he leave anything a mystery?

She really didn't want to cry, but it wasn't like she had a choice. "You're going to break my heart, Dipper." Her eyes swelled with tears, and she look up at the young man in front of her, "Are you okay with that?"

The tables had turned.

"I'm sorry…" That was all he could manage. What else could he say? He felt the same? Or maybe he should say that they could run away together? Should he promise her that he would come back for her? Or? What could he say? His mind was in turmoil. Surely she could feel the distress he was feeling.

Pacifica let her tears finally fall. "So am I, Dipper." She passed by him, and was gone.

The young girl who had befuddled him so much had left with only a trace of perfume to reassure him that what he was feeling wasn't a figment of his imagination. He understood what she meant now. Pacifica was gone, but the way she made him feel wasn't.

* * *

 _Thanks for reading! Don't forget about that Hug Life!_

 _.Fun_


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